With about 3,800 miles behind them and no signs of fatigue apparent, two dozen bicyclists with Push America had dinner and dancing with ARC of Central Virginia’s day-care clients and their families Wednesday.
Nearing the end of a summer filled with similar gatherings on their cross-country Journey of Hope, the fundraising cyclists had a little fun on the dance floor at the ARC Center on Bedford Avenue.
A few ARC clients joined them, moving with the music.
The best part of the trip for cyclist Scott Brenstuhl, of Lancaster, Ohio, has been “seeing the abilities of people who have some sort of disability.”
He described meeting a woman at one of their overnight stops who “was completely non-verbal” and had little control of her body, but nevertheless organized a dinner event for the cyclists by sending e-mails.
At another stop between California and Virginia, Brenstuhl said the cyclists were totally whipped in a game of wheelchair basketball by a local team of people with disabilities.
“I think we scored one or two points,” Brenstuhl said. “They scored a bunch.”
Another cyclist, Wes Donaldson of Austin, Texas, said he has been surprised by “the unique abilities of people we have met on these friendship visits” like the one at ARC of Central Virginia.
“When you see them laughing and dancing, they know they have a disability but they don’t let it get them down,” said Donaldson, who joined Push America’s sponsoring group, Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity, because “I wanted to get involved with people who have a disability.”
The Push America team that rode into Lynchburg on Wednesday, and planned to leave around daybreak today, has 26 cyclists and a support crew of seven. They have followed a southerly route that crossed Texas, Louisiana and Georgia.
Each of the riders has raised at least $5,000 toward grants that Push America gives to groups that serve people who have disabilities.
They ride about 80 miles per day, and most of the cyclists said Nevada was the toughest part of the trip because of hot, desert conditions with no signs of civilization between towns nearly 100 miles apart.
Wednesday, the cyclists had started the day in Danville, and took back roads to Lynchburg where they spent the night at Heritage High School.
Previous overnight stops had been in High Point, N.C., and Charlotte, said Jared Johnson, the group’s public relations director.
Push America also has two other teams crossing the U.S., one via a northern route and another on a middle course.
The three teams, wearing red, white and blue cycling uniforms, are due to meet at the nation’s capitol in Washington on Saturday morning.
Altogether, the teams raise $500,000 each year for Push America’s grants programs.
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